What I enjoyed about this book was that it was not difficult at all to tell whether it was the young Jacob or the older Jacob narrating. I was quite impressed by Gruen's skill in that regard. I also liked the descriptions of circus life, giving me an image in my mind without overdoing it.
I found the beginning of the book quite slow and a bit too gritty for my taste. The last part of the book picked up for me and I read to the end in one sitting. I also found it interesting that there was so much great description of thoughts and feelings about things from animals to workers to love, but when it came to loss in later chapters, it was as if the narrator's feelings were skimmed over. That gets a paragraph or two? Same goes for the death alluded to in the opening chapter. Once we get there, no discussion or character processing when there has been processing in abundance throughout.
Overall well done, though I'd not recommend to others and don't need to own it.
Why was this banned?
Sexual activities and profanity.
My take:
Sexual activity: Yes, discussed in detail
Profanity: A bit
